My father, who was an Executive Engineer in Kerala State Electricity Board, was transferred to Chittur from Palghat in 1975, which was 14 kms away. He was 45 at the time. A very tenacious man, he learned driving a two wheeler at that age, and travelled to Chittur every day, while we stayed in Palghat as our Schools and Colleges were in Palghat. One needs to remember that, those days, a 14 kms travel by bus or car or 2 wheeler was equal to travelling for 40 kms today. Father had a health issue in 1978 which forced him to shift the house to Chittur, which meant we had to travel instead of him. My brother, who is 8 years elder to me, had completed his education and had joined a Bank as Probationary Officer, and had moved to North India.
The first person we met in Chittur, was my brothers' friend. He was just 22 then, living with his aged Aunt. He was the youngest of 4, with 3 domineering elder sisters. His mother died when he was a toddler, and his father, who was a disciplinarian, and who worked in a Multinational Firm, brought up the kids in a Culture that was more Western oriented than Indian. The Children were raised by the their father as a single parent for a long time, till he remarried, late in his life. The kids, who were all teenagers by then, and brought up hearing the stories of Cindrella being harassed by her evil Step mother, never gave her a chance to settle down, though she was a very sane lady, educated, and cultured. She lived with her aged mother in Chittur in 1978. My brothers friends' father had died by 1978, leaving him with a huge house, agricultural land and couple of sisters to look after, which he found a bit too difficult to handle. In short, he was a confused youngster, jobless, 22 years old with a heavy burden on his shoulders, struggling to cope up with the Indian Culture in a remote village town, for he was raised to live in a Western society by the father.
There were 4 of them including my brother in their gang. Our guy was very close to my brother, and thought a lot about him. I have always felt that my brother never really had the same feeling he had for my brother.
When we landed up in Chittur, he took over the task of settling us in and became a regular visitor, or rather a member of my family. He looked upon my father as his godfather, and had all the freedom a son had in our house. He was a good brother to me and my sister. A left hander, with a slightly feminish look, he became a part of our life in no time.
My father was his advisor, and soon he got a job as a Medical Representative, a profession that was common to most graduates those days. A compulsive talker, and a guy who loved to move around in two wheelers, the job fitted him like a glove. The freedom it gave also helped him to look after his Farm in remote areas.
He was there to play Badminton or Carroms with us, and was boisterous and argumentative. When he was barely 25, he walked in and announced he wanted to marry, and sought Father's support. My father tried to dissuade him telling him that he was too young, and immature to marry. But he was adamant, and finally settled down to marry a sweet traditional Palghat girl, who was the complete opposite to him. But they hit off well. She also became a part of our family. During my Sister's and Brother's marriages, they were treated as one of my parents Children and honoured accordingly. This was not to the liking of some of my relatives.
Not blessed with sound General Knowledge, sometimes he made himself look silly. Once we were playing Carroms, when father remarked that Yuri Andropov has died. Andropov was the leader of USSR at that time, and one of the two most powerful figures in the World. Our guy casually remarked that "Chess world has lost a rare talent". My father and me stared at him in disbelief, for Andropov never played Chess. USSR was the Chess Powerhouse those days, and our guy connected a Russian Name to a Chess Player!. Father remarked "Thank god for small mercies! At least you are aware Andropov is a Russian!"
The Palghat bye pass was constructed in early 1980's. The Palghat - Chittur Road cut the bye pass vertically. Remember this road is a small 2 lane, 2 way road. Highways had Speed brakers on the Palghat - Chittur Road on either side of the Highway. Our guy one day, in all seriousness remarked, "Our Highway guys are idiots. I can understand them laying speed breakers before the highway, but why have it after we have crossed the highway?". The poor guy never thought that the speed breaker on the other side was for those motorists coming from the other direction.
He had a heart of gold and was in the forefront during my sisters wedding. His elder daughter was a our pet, and spent most of her time our house as a toddler.
He as talkative and boisterous, and made the life in a sleepy, quaint chitter a bit colourful.
He used to drive his Vijay Scooter at nothing less than 80 kms per hour, without a care in the world for his or his pillion riders safety. At 8 pm one night he and his wife left Palghat town to his wife's house 7 kms away. He started the vehicle and told his wife to get in the back and as is usual, he took off at a high speed, talking to his wife non stop for the next 15 minutes. When he reached home, his mother in law asked "Where is your wife? You went out together." "What, she is in the pillion seat" and looked back, found the seat empty. He rushed back to town, and found a small crowd around his wife, who was crying. What had happened was he asked her to get into the pillion seat and took off just as she was mounting, she fell on the road, and was a bit hurt. The crowd gave him some 'nice advice', but he was unfazed. He put all the blame on her for the incident.
He was a Chain smoker and used to justify saying it was a stress reliever. But he never smoke in front of my parents. After a while he started drinking lightly, and then heavily. He became an alcoholic and had to be dragged home. He was in his mid to late 30s.
I moved on to do my MBA, later joined HPCL, resigned and started NIIT in Thanjavur. A hot tempered guy, who took things personally, I couldn't bear to see his wife, with whom I shared an excellent rapport, suffer due to his alcoholism. I showed my displeasure by cutting off my ties with him and didn't speak to him for nearly 6 years.
With great difficulty, he got out of his alcoholism and turned a new leaf. He had moved to Ernakulam by then. One day he visited my parents and complained that though he has turned a new leaf, he was sad that I was not talking to him. Father asked me to visit him or call him up. But I didn't, as I was still seething at what I considered was his betrayal.
One day in late 1990s, we got a call from my brother in Delhi asking us to go and visit his wife, for he had died in a two wheeler accident a few days back, leaving his young wife and two teenage daughters behind. We were devastated. The saddest part was that the person who never had an accident when he was driving at 80-100 kms per hour was driving at 40 kms when his a Lorry carrying Steel Rods in front of him suddenly braked and a rod pierced him. He died on the spot. He was 44 when he died. His wife was inconsolable. She told me that his great regret was that I was not talking to him. I couldn't look at her straight, for my heart was gutted.
Life teaches one many lessons. His unfortunate death taught me not to carry grudges, lest we regret later.
